After four, or a very likely five, years of slaving over coursework, think about how excited you must be when you finally graduate from college. The days of being a poor college student are over. Money is soon to be flowing into your bank account like you’ve never seen.

Now imagine your bank account is still close to zero. Your mom is yelling at you to do the dishes. This isn’t exactly the dream you had in mind — no job, no money and living with your parents.

OPRASEUTH

This is an all too common scenario that many of my friends have had come true. They can’t find a job in this economy and are living at home with their parents not exactly sure what their next move will be.

So here’s my advice to grads who can’t find employment: skip the job search and head to graduate school.

People our age who go to graduate or law school are better off than those who decide to enter the workforce. Deciding to search for jobs is a likely waste of time that could be used to further their education.

I’ve done a little research and discovered that according to New York Times, the number of people who took the GRE in 2009 in the U.S. rose nine percent from the year before, while the number of people taking the LSAT rose 20 percent.

So, I guess I’m not the only one realizing we’ve got to find alternative ways to strengthen our résumé during the time we can’t find jobs.

Most master’s degrees take about a year or two depending on the student’s full-time or part-time status. If you’re worried that it’s a huge commitment, it’s not. You’ll be out soon enough if the market miraculously begins to improve.

And to those of you who say getting a master’s degree is only for people who really know what they want to do — you say that when things are good. People can get jobs when the economy is fine. But you know what I say — we’re in a global recession, and more education can’t hurt.

Getting a bachelor’s degree today is now equivalent to a high school degree. Everyone’s got one now. That’s an even more important reason to go grad school.

Even if recent graduates do get a job, chances are it is not the job they wanted. Jobs are so scarce that people are willing to take anything they can get.

Personally, I have decided to continue my education and complete a master’s degree here at the University of Georgia. I’m entering the Instructional Design and Development program this summer.

Because unemployment is so high, it is a perfect time not to job search, but play it safe and go to graduate school. So don’t just sit around and be unemployed for months. Find a way to get the most out of your time after you receive your bachelor’s degree.

Stick with school. Get another degree — it’s better than being unemployed.

— Marcie Opraseuth is a senior from Dunwoody majoring in publication management